Mean Green Preview Part 7

mad dog · August 1, 2006

Mean Green Preview, Part 7

Tight End

Summary

Tight end is likely the thinnest position on the 2006 Mean Green squad. Not helping matters is the recent news that sophomore TE Charley Brown will have surgery on a bad labrum and will redshirt this season. This season would have been a great opportunity for him to get playing time, to step up, and be a leader at a position desperately lacking it. Now, he’ll be able to get back in the game next season, with two seniors graduating. He will be much larger than his current 246 pounds, and much stronger and healthier, too. Three more years of that guy is a great, great thing for the Mean Green.

Unfortunately for this year, however, it puts a position of critical need into DefCon 1. There are question marks surrounding every Tight End on the roster, and not exactly small ones at that.

The most probable starter at this point is Beau Davidson, who, while actually a pretty decent player, has never been healthy enough to count on for an entire season. It might be best to think of him as an “until” guy: he’ll keep the position from sinking until he gets hurt.

Past him, it gets pretty bleak. Ronnie Hull is a pretty good blocker, but one-dimensional, and won’t stretch the field. Robert Harmon is big, but doesn’t have the tenacity to be an effective blocker, nor the hands to be an effective receiver. Juco transfer Brian Carlson is huge, but we never got to see him because of an early injury this spring. Heck, the coaching staff even tried putting David Collins at TE just for a little depth.

If there is a glimmer of hope for this year, it is most likely to be found from true freshman Bryant Seidle. The 6’3 Seidle has apparently been working furiously to get up to the speed and size required for D-I ball, perhaps sensing the opportunity to start early if he can bring it all together quick enough. He has improved his speed to 4.51 (Johnny Quinn’s 4.42 is a team high), and put on some weight, right now around 245. He has a reputation as an excellent physical blocker who works hard in the trenches and also has a decent set of hands to go with it. That said, he is still a true freshman, and completely unproven in the college ranks. How he plays, practices, and does the little things right between now and September 2nd will be the final authority in just what he does this season.

The other guy, a developmental prospect from Argyle by the name of Victor Gill, is 6’5, and 230 pounds. That is a very lanky frame, but coaches believe that he will eventually top out at something close to 6’6, 280. They hope he can be the punishing physical presence at tight end that this team really hasn’t had since Jeff Muenchow. The upside here is that he has room for 50 extra pounds. The downside is that he has 50 extra pounds to put on. I wouldn’t expect to see much of him this season unless something bizarre happens: on the order of him showing up at 260 or something. He is a developmental guy with huge potential and upside, but, for now, that is all it is.

Players to Watch

Brian Carlson

An absolutely massive guy who never got to prove himself this spring due to injury. From the look of him, there’s no reason why he couldn’t be a punishing blocker. Will he be healthy, and will we get to see what he’s all about?

Robert Harmon

For all his size, you’d expect him to be more tenacious in blocking. He isn’t a blocker, and he isn’t a receiving threat. Does he have it somewhere within him to step up at a critical time for a need position?

*Projected Starters

Tight End 1 – Beau Davidson

A decent player that simply can’t stay healthy. If he can stay on the field, we’ll at least have one good option here.

Tight End 2 – Ronnie Hull

This was a tough pick, because there really isn’t a clear cut second guy. However, chances are if you have two tight ends in, at least one of them will be a blocker, and Hull is the best blocker in the pack.

Impact Newcomers

Bryant Seidle

A great high school athlete with a similar skill set to Charlie Brown. Can he show up, make the transition to the college game, and push for playing time at a paper thin position?

Victor Gill

A tall, somewhat lanky prospect who coaches expect to get much, much bigger. Will a lack of available players force early playing time?

*Projected starters are who we think should start based on what a player has shown to us in practice and in games. We are not trying to guess the coaches’ picks, but rather who we’d pick if we were making out the depth chart.

Green Crazy · August 1, 2006

I would really like to see Seidle step up and become a contributor this year, not many LB's can match his speed.

August 1, 2006

I'm amazed that tight end is our weakest position given that Coach Dickey used to have a penchant for selecting tight ends.

While I believe that Davidson possibly possesses the most overall talent it will be tough to play him regularly. He may be too valuable as a long snapper to risk injury as a starter. Remember, Gilmore was his backup last year who had to be pressed into service and he's not available this year.

Harmon is the enigma. I've seen him look really good and I've seen him when there was no effort. Hull, with the additional poundage, could fill a blocking need. I think that Seidle and Brown will serve us well in the future. But for now, I'm hoping that Brian Carlson is the answer.

There was a lot of skepticism on my part when I learned that we had signed him. He had no great credentials other than he had started at the juco level. The few receptions that he had were not for a lot of yardage. Did they not throw to him often because of Tyler's offense or because he didn't have good hands? I'm hoping that whoever recruited him saw some potential to be a complete player. His other plus is that he is near the perfect size for a tight end.

H-towngreen · August 1, 2006

But for now, I'm hoping that Brian Carlson is the answer.
There was a lot of skepticism on my part when I learned that we had signed him. He had no great credentials other than he had started at the juco level. The few receptions that he had were not for a lot of yardage. Did they not throw to him often because of Tyler's offense or because he didn't have good hands? I'm hoping that whoever recruited him saw some potential to be a complete player. His other plus is that he is near the perfect size for a tight end.
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I think they figured to use him as an extra linemen in certain situations. The size he brings to the table was the main thing with bringing him in here. Like you said, I think he had all of 3 catches last year at Tyler.

mad dog · August 1, 2006

But for now, I'm hoping that Brian Carlson is the answer.
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Sounds good to me. At this point, I'll take ANY answer, but I agree with you that Carlson's size alone makes him an attractive candidate for a job.

That said, he got hurt pretty early, and no one really got a read on what he has in the bag. Not a good sign of toughness for a big blocking guy to go down so quickly. It could just be a tough break, but getting injured can sometimes be a symptom of a larger problem of being unable to play with pain. Sometimes a guy is legitimately injured and can't play, but sometimes it is just a guy not being mentally tough enough to play through it.

Not to say, of course, that I could do any better. I promise you that any one of those guys is twice as tough as me. But, then again, I'm not the one playing football. That's not my job.

Just makes you appreciate a guy like Scott Hall, Patrick Cobbs, or even Charley Brown that much more. I think guys like that would probably try to play on one leg if the coaches let them. Pain just seems to affect them in a different way, serving as some weird fuel for their training. I remember hearing a coach one time talk about the difference between playing hurt and playing injured. One was stupid, because you shouldn't play, and one made you look weak because you should.

buff64 · August 1, 2006

Sounds good to me. At this point, I'll take ANY answer, but I agree with you that Carlson's size alone makes him an attractive candidate for a job.
That said, he got hurt pretty early, and no one really got a read on what he has in the bag. Not a good sign of toughness for a big blocking guy to go down so quickly. It could just be a tough break, but getting injured can sometimes be a symptom of a larger problem of being unable to play with pain. Sometimes a guy is legitimately injured and can't play, but sometimes it is just a guy not being mentally tough enough to play through it.
Not to say, of course, that I could do any better. I promise you that any one of those guys is twice as tough as me. But, then again, I'm not the one playing football. That's not my job.
Just makes you appreciate a guy like Scott Hall, Patrick Cobbs, or even Charley Brown that much more. I think guys like that would probably try to play on one leg if the coaches let them. Pain just seems to affect them in a different way, serving as some weird fuel for their training. I remember hearing a coach one time talk about the difference between playing hurt and playing injured. One was stupid, because you shouldn't play, and one made you look weak because you should.
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It seems to me that at one time the coaches had Joel Foster playing tight end , thats 6'4" 282.

mad dog · August 1, 2006

It seems to me that at one time the coaches had Joel Foster playing tight end , thats 6'4" 282.
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Man, I like that idea, too. If we had any depth at OT, that'd be something I'd be dying to see. Hopefully we get someone like Peachey to step up and be a guy we could count on. In running situations, it might be great to have Foster line up on a linebacker and just destroy him. It'd also work for the zone running plays we like so well.

Harry · August 1, 2006

We're thin at tackl so moving our best tackle to tight end is not an option. I do agree tho that if the guys we have there aren't getting it done we should give others a chance. Man if Brock Stickler could block he would be a terrific option. I'll be real interested to see how Stickler looks in 2-a-days.